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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · chip · temple · rest · kid · straw · track · race

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. track — a path
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. race — a contest
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. kid — child
  12. track — to keep track
  13. clip — to cut
  14. race — the arms race
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. chip — to eat
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chip — for betting
  19. clip — a video
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. track — a song
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. race — humankind
  24. rest — a break

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com